“I first met Ronnie in the early Eighties when we played with Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult, the infamous ‘Black and Blue’ tour.

“I first heard him sing on The Butterfly Ball and from that moment I understood what great singing was all about; he was at the top of his game from then on.

“His voice was always powerful and soaring; his phrasing was uniquely his, copied by many but never bettered.

“I will miss him as we all will.

“The last time we met was in Finland last year, both bands stranded in an airport with flight delays. What do you do?! Go to the bar, get drunk and tell rock and roll stories.

“He told great stories.

“Deepest condolences to his family.

“Somewhere in the night a candle burns for you

“To absent friends.”

Jeff Waters (Annihilator):

“Ronnie was a super-nice person, uniquely talented and has left us all with great music. In a way, it will strange to live and work in a world and business where Ronnie James Dio is no longer on tour, at the festivals, putting out his music.

“You will never be forgotten and will live on in the music of so many others.

“Stand up and shout.”

Random AKA Mega Ran:

“Still speechless.. wow.. R.I.P to the greatest voice in metal. Now there truly is a Rainbow in the Dark.”

Lemmy (Motorhead):

“I’m truly upset, especially since he seemed to be rallying at the Golden Gods show.

“Bon Voyage, Ronnie. Rest in peace.

“I’m devastated”

Corye Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour):

“One of the strongest, purist and consistent singers of all time. Ronnie sang like he lived — all out, from the heart, with so much honesty and joy. He was a great man with a smile and a handshake for fans and peers alike. He spoke his mind and stood his ground for decades. I will miss him dearly.”

Kerry King (Slayer):

“Few people have had the ability to carry a song like Dio, literally demanding your attention as he effortlessly recreated live the amazing things he did on record, it’s odd how things get taken from you quickly…I just saw him a month ago. I know I was lucky to have known Ronnie. One of the nicest guys in the business, without a doubt. He will be hugely missed.”

“My part in this ‘summer music playlist’ it is going to be a touch bittersweet as it turns out.

“Last weekend, Ronnie James Dio succumbed to his battle with stomach cancer. From what I understand, Ronnie fought like a warrior to the end.
“I was supposed to pick a new-ish song for this list, but when it comes to rocking out in the summertime, sometimes you just got to go a little bit old-damn-school.

“Last In Line is an ass-kicker right up there with anything, punk, rock, and/or metal, and us rockers owe a bit of reverence to this great man.

“R.I.P., RJD!”

Steve Vai:

“Dio was a shining light of rock/metal authenticity. He was a completely dedicated artist with massive talent. It’s likely that his vital contributions will continue to inspire well into the future. He is now legend. But more than all this, Ronnie was a really cool guy. I mean reeeally cool.

“God bless you, brutha.”

Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind, ex Dream Evil):

“On the night of May 16th, I was shocked to read the news. Ronnie James Dio, a true rock giant, is no longer with us.

“My condolences go out to his family and close ones and my thoughts are with you.

“His music with Dio, Black Sabbath and Rainbow has had a huge impact on me and Firewind‘s sound. One of the bands I used to play in also got its name from one of his songs — that was Dream Evil.

“While I never had the chance to meet him, Firewind played a festival with Heaven & Hell in 2009 and I got to see him perform. No doubt, it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen and I was amazed by his energy and how spot-on all his notes were.

“His music will continue to inspire and his legacy will live on forever.

“Thank you for your magic, Ronnie James Dio.”

Ozzy Osbourne:

“I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Ronnie James Dio. Metal has truly lost one of its greatest voices. My heart goes out to his family and to his many fans.

“Love and respect.”

Joey Belladonna (Anthrax):

“Ronnie was a big inspiration, influence and dear friend of mine. He was a true gentleman and kind hearted individual. He always would go out of his way to make you feel welcome and important. Without a doubt he was one of the best, top notch and a class act. I will truly miss him.”

Henry Rollins:

“Backstage at the venue. Listening to Rainbow, tonight’s walk-in CD is burning away in my laptop. All Dio all night.

When a legend like Slash decides to make a solo album, he doesn’t do it by half, enlisting his friends to help him out, Slash has created what will surely go down as one of the greatest and most diverse rock albums of all time.

The album starts with a bang with Ghosts featuring The Cult lead singer Ian Astbury. This is a fantastic way to begin the album, the chorus seems to sum this whole project up with the line: “Kill the ghost, that hides in your soul, Rock ‘n’ Roll.” As expected the guitar work on this album is stellar, then again, Slash very rarely disappoints.

Up next is Crucify The Dead, with the legendary Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, on first listen this song seemed to be an anti Black Sabbath song, but after reading into it, it is Ozzy’s view on the demise of Guns n’ Roses. This is a great track with haunting lyrics and one of the best vocal performances from Ozzy in a long time.

Surprising, one of my favourite tracks on this album is Beautiful Dangerous, featuring Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. This song shows Fergie has really versatile voice, she really can sing!

The two tracks on the album featuring the amazing voice of Myles Kennedy, Back From Cali and Starlight are also great. Myles is, in my opinion, one of the greatest singers in all of rock music, it’s no wonder he was considered for the job in Led Zeppelin.

Doctor Alibi, featuring Lemmy, is a rocked up Motorhead song, and you can’t go wrong with that. Lemmy isn’t the best singer in the world, but his voice suits the music and his lyrics are amazing!

Watch This, an instrumental jam, featuring Slash’s bandmate in Velvet Revolver Duff McKagan and Foo Fighterds main man Dave Grohl, is possibly the weakest track on the album, musically it is great, but it doesn’t offer much to the album as a whole, and at some points, it sounds exactly like (Velvet Revolver track) Slither.

Nothing To Say, featuring M Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold is possibly the most “metal” track on the album. It has a sinister intro and the main riff is very Metallica-esque. M Shadows, as usual, offers a great vocal performance and the chorus is brilliant.

The final track on the album, We’re All Gonna Die, Featuring the legend that is Iggy Pop, is superb. It’s a fun, catchy and hillarious rock song. Iggy’s lyrics are brilliant: “I wanna, I wanna, I wanna whip it out and pee on the ground!” for example. This is a great way to end the album, it just shows how much fun it must have been for Slash to make this album.

I haven’t written about every track, but in all the album is definitely a must buy. If you call yourself a rock fan, then this album should be in your collection!

The first show to sell out on Black Stone Cherry’s autumn tour was at the Glasgow Barrowlands, and I just happened to be there.

Openers The Parlor Mob, were… pretty average, they didn’t really do anything special and the crowd just didn’t seem into it.

Next up were Duff McKagan’s Loaded, and this set was very special to me. you see, the night before the show, i tweeted to Duff asking him to play new rose (The song by legendary punk band The Damned, also performed by Guns N’ Roses with Duff on Vocals) and before the gig my dad and I started speaking to the Loaded bassist ( really nice guy BTW) and turns out, Duff got my tweet and it was added to the setlist, needless to say i was over the moon, what made it even better was the absolutely fasntastic set that Loaded played, featuring songs such as Flatline, Dark Days, Sick and covers of Attitude by The Misfits, It’s So Easy by Gn’R (not to mention New Rose).

Then, the headliners took to the stage, straight into opener Rain Wizard, which sounded even better than on the album. Then during second song Backwoods Gold, the lights went out, as guitarist Ben Wells said, because “they were rocking so hard!” So the band played in the dark for the rest of their set, it really added to the atmosphere. Chris Robertson, Lead vocalist and guitarist looked overwhelmed with awe and gratitude as the fans basically sung every word of the set, the highlight was Peace Is Free, where he didn’t really have to sing at all. Their superb set included songs from their self titled debut album, Folklore & Superstition and even tracks from the re-release of that album, plus they even threw in little snippets of Sweet Home Alabama, by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix. Black Stone Cherry are an unbelievable band and deserve every bit of praise they have ever got.

£15 a ticket for two awesome bands and one… not just as awesome, is fantastic value. This is the kind of thing that stay with you all your life, I know i wont ever forget it.